IDM Students
Excel at Case Competition

A
solid team effort is essential whenever working as part of a group. Lisa
Mehta, Jeremy Silverman, and Dennis Timpanaro, know the meaning of teamwork.
That knowledge led them to a tie for a first-place victory at this year's
IDM Case Competition,
sponsored by the Ford Motor Company
and held in mid-March.

The Challenge

Ten teams,
comprised of juniors and seniors, most of whom are enrolled in the Industrial
Distribution Management (IDM) curriculum, a concentration in Business
Administration, entered the competition. Each team, several weeks prior
to the competition, was given a case statement defining a business problem
for which they needed to devise a set of recommendations to present to
a panel of judges. This year's problem involved the "lean enterprise
initiative" of Plan for Every Part, which Ford is currently implementing
throughout its supply chain. The case given to the students was devised
primarily by William Qualls, professor of business administration and
director of the IDM program. Qualls called the case competition "an
excellent opportunity for students to experience the practice of presenting
their ideas to managers after spending an intense amount of time trying
to come up with a unique solution."

Each
team researched the problem, gathering ideas and statistics from both
their in-class work and outside sources, and formulated a solution. The
groups then had to prepare a 20-minute slide presentation and to be prepared
for a 10-minute question and answer period, during which the judges were
free to ask any questions about the team's proposal.

The Preliminary
Competition

Beginning
in the morning, each team presented its strategy for solving the problem
described in the case statement. Two members of the College of Business
faculty and a representative from Ford judged this initial round. The
students were evaluated on their speaking abilities, presentation skills,
research, and the plausibility of their solution. They were also assessed
on how effectively they answered the judges' questions.

Mehta,
Silverman, and Timpanaro's team recommended a supplement to the system
already being used at Ford and outlined both the qualitative and the quantitative
reasons for their recommendation. They then fielded the judges' questions,
defining certain terms, clarifying certain ideas, and reemphasizing their
key points. After the initial round, the members of the team huddled to
discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of their presentation and
what strategies were necessary if the team moved on to the final round.

"You
don't want to give too much background information because it can get
monotonous," said Timpanaro, an IDM senior, "but you don't want
to give not enough, either." Added Silverman, also a senior in the
IDM program, "You want to relate the solution directly to the case;
[give] a basic explanation of what should be done."

The Finals

At noon,
four teams selected for the final round were announced, and the team of
Mehta, Silverman, and Timpanaro was among the four. The team members decided
to regroup over lunch, strengthening portions of their presentation they
felt were weak in the first round. The final judging took place in the
afternoon, with the three Ford representatives -- Jim Dixon, Mike Shaver
and Reinder Vanderschoot - acting as the judges.

The team
altered its presentation slightly for the final round. They did not remove
any facts, but rather emphasized points that were missed by the first-round
judges and clarified background information that seemed to be needed given
the earlier questions. Mehta felt that the team needed to be more persuasive
during their presentation.

The Results

"I
couldn't have asked for a better presentation," said Timpanaro in
the time between the team's final round and the awards presentation. All
three members of the team confessed to being nervous and excited about
hearing the final results, but occupied their time by discussing how they
worked together as a team. The process of developing a plan of action
for the problem involved a lot of time and effort spent working together
on what idea would work best.

"Team
chemistry is key to how a team does," said Timpanaro. "Yes,"
interjected Silverman, jokingly, "I'm a pleasure to work with I'm
the glue that holds these idiots together." Silverman and Timpanaro
were part of the team that won the competition in 2003. "They were
both good mentors to work with," said Mehta, an IDM junior.

The competition
winners were announced shortly after 5 p.m., with the Mehta, Silverman,
and Timpanaro's team tying for first place. Each member of a placing team
received a Ford-sponsored scholarship with the distinction.

"As
hard as it is and as much effort it takes," said Timpanaro, "in
the end, it's all worthwhile."